Why she wouldn't eat

[evan385]

I figured out why my one year and three month old female ball python would not eat last night. Tonight I found a snake poop much bigger than any i've ever seen from her, it was the size of my llaso apso's poop. Well five nights ago I fed her what I would call a medium rat on the small side, since I got these small rats three weeks ago and they were good sized small rats (70-80 grams then.) Well I figured out i've been feeding her imo the wrong size for the first year of her life, from the research i've done the rat should give them a good sized bulge and they need to be moved up to a bigger size when there's no longer a noticeable bulge. IMO she's small for her age and I want to pack on some grams and get her up to weight and i've heard the best way to do that is to put her on a five day schedule instead of my usually seven day. Will she or should she eat tonight?

[Daybreaker]

Will she eat tonight? Who knows, that's up to her.

Should she eat tonight? I'd definately give it a try but that's up to you.

I would put her on a 5 day if you're worried that you've been underfeeding her, but to better offer advice do you have her weight in grams? I give feeders that are 10-15% their body weight.

[evan385]

Will she eat tonight? Who knows, that's up to her.

Should she eat tonight? I'd definately give it a try but that's up to you.

I would put her on a 5 day if you're worried that you've been underfeeding her, but to better offer advice do you have her weight in grams? I give feeders that are 10-15% their body weight.

Thank you I will try. I was worried because she's NEVER hesitated for one second as soon as a rat comes near her she strikes and constricts. The few times the rat came near her (she always had the wobble before striking with frozen and thawed, never with live) she got her wobble and the rat would walk away before she struck. So I tried pre-killing the rat and she still would not take it, then I started thinking she would only eat live now. Which is not the case because she has never hesitated with live not for one second. Also i've had her back and forth from live to pre-killed to F/T for different periods of times and it has never affected whether she will eat. But i've always had her on a seven day schedule so she's always had time to poop first and that may be it. I will be getting a kitchen scale that goes up to 5000g from wal-mart soon.

[evan385]

Well she didn't eat the F/T tonight. She didn't even eat the live rat I offered her but at least she seems more interested. I mean she got her wobble again and she NEVER does that live rats, she always strikes and constricts the second it comes near her. At one point she seemed more interested in her reflection than the rat and she even slithered right past the rat to go to her water dish. I think I will just watch her and wait until one night when I see her out "hunting" which is usually after 10:00 on the sixth day.

[Daybreaker]

She could just not be hungry. Some just go off feed for whatever reasons then continue when they feel like it.

Next time I'd try another live feeder if you've had better luck with those in the past and if you try P/K go ahead and stick it in the freezer if she doesn't take it so you can try it thawed in another 5/6 days (don't refreeze an already F/T feeder if you try F/T).

If she keeps refusing on a 5 day schedule I'd bump your attempts back to every 7 days to not stress her out too much and just keep trying till she feels like eating.

You could try other feeding methods as well: prescenting her tub with a F/T rat, leaving it at the entrance of her hide overnight (if she has a hide), trying in the early morning over mid-day/nighttime, trying a smaller sized feeder than what she can easily manage (she could be "shy" to some larger prey items; smaller items fed more frequently is okay as well), etc

Good luck!

[evan385]

She could just not be hungry. Some just go off feed for whatever reasons then continue when they feel like it.

Next time I'd try another live feeder if you've had better luck with those in the past and if you try P/K go ahead and stick it in the freezer if she doesn't take it so you can try it thawed in another 5/6 days (don't refreeze an already F/T feeder if you try F/T).

If she keeps refusing on a 5 day schedule I'd bump your attempts back to every 7 days to not stress her out too much and just keep trying till she feels like eating. You could try other feeding methods as well: prescenting her tub with a F/T rat, leaving it at the entrance of her hide overnight (if she has a hide), trying in the early morning over mid-day/nighttime, trying a smaller sized feeder than what she can easily manage (she could be "shy" to some larger prey items; smaller items fed more frequently is okay as well), etc Good luck!

Thank you, i'm thinking she's just not hungry right now. Even when I wake her up early to eat she always always take the rat right away and i've never had her not show any interest be in F/T, P/K or live. She actually tried on the fourth night she struck at it but missed and never struck again. I know she will eat by Monday night and i'm hoping that she's not doing this for breeding reasons this will be her first winter over three years she's a mid 2010 and she's only about I wanna say 600-800 grams. She's not shy because the rat I fed her last Monday was the biggest one that I had I'll be getting a scale the next time I happen to be at wal-mart as I don't have a car right now. Even if she is hooked on live, I prefer live anyways.

[evan385]

So she wouldn't eat at all. I tried to feed her on Saturday (day five), Sunday, and Monday. I tried live every time since she has more interest in live rats. She has NEVER done this before, especially not with live rats. She eats like a hoover and never refuses to eat. Saturday she actually tried to strike and missed and never tried again. Sunday she struck twice and missed both times. Ever since i've fed her live rats she always strikes and constricts immediately as soon as the rat comes near her, even if I just woke her up. I'm thinking at first she wasn't hungry and that part of it is because i've been offering her a live rat every night. I have not tried to feed her since Monday night. Do they need that time in between feedings to have the proper feeding response? Tonight it will be 48 hours since I last attempted to feed her. Monday night I pre killed a rat and left it in with her ten minutes later she curls up under her substrate. It will be nine days since she's eaten and she's a juvenile so I know she'll be hungry. If she doesn't eat tonight I won't be able to feed her until next week because I will be at my father's house unless I get the job at RAC tomorrow.

[wax32]

You might be stressing her out by offering food so often. I wait at least a week after a refusal. Sometimes until I see them interested in the rats I am thawing for the other snakes.

[evan385]

Thank you, and I get it now. I know why she wouldn't eat even after the full week. Well she just went into blue probably last night. She's eaten in blue once or twice before but i'll let her be until after she's done shedding. Also she just pooped again tonight.